LOL Librarian

News, it's something that I can remember watching with my parents as a kid. There was one TV in the house and if you wanted to watch it you had to watch what you parents wanted, including the news. As an expat my news viewing habits are continually in flux depending on the country we live in and our ability to access an English news channel. Turning on the TV and having a wide range of news options is a thing of the past for many expats who live in a country in which they don't speak the language. In Hungary its been a struggle to find a reliable online news source, nevermind a channel on television. Whereas in China we were forever plagued by the Chinese authorities censoring Hong Kong news stations by randomly throwing up a picture of a mountain. CNN or BBC are great resources, but being very global in nature it is sometimes challenging to follow local events in your host city or country. With a movement towards everyone in the house having their own devices, it means familie...

The Dot by Peter Reynolds is a great way to have students think about perseverance, taking risks and reflect upon what their talents are. Internationl Dot Day was an avenue for authentic collaboration with the Art teacher. She showed the video and the students did a fabulous job 'making their mark' in all sorts of dot-tastic ways. Student work was shown off with a dot explosion in the front entrance of our school. The dot explosion extended into the library. After reading the story, we discussed if the book was truly about dots. The students discussed the idea that Peter Reynolds was trying to tell us much more. They drew their connections onto dots, which were then 'dotted' around the library. Not only were dots on display, but I also took the opportunity to highlight some of our great art picture books and craft books. Students were encouraged to browse and try something new!  

As a former classroom teacher, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that one of the things to get bumped out of our schedule during a hectic week was the read aloud. I know, it's the last thing that should go but in the rush to complete, reflect, post, it was often done. I'm not alone in this and that's why having a good old 'Drop, Everything, And Read' session to celebrate International Litearcy Day worked.  It was heartening to see the number of classes who participated, and enjoyed doing it. Teachers and students alike kicked back, relaxed and read. DEAR sessions have their place in the world, and this is the 5th country in which I've tried it. An important component for teachers participating is to model, either by reading aloud or reading along side the students.  The students need freedom to enjoy as well, and should be able to read whatever genre or format they wish. Too much structure destroys the joy of these sessions. The video below shows us loving l...